Kathie Nunley's Educator's Newsletter
---August 2005 Edition--- (current subscribers: 15,193)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
News and updates to http://brains.org and Kathie Nunley's
Layered Curriculum (tm) Site for Educators: http://help4teachers.com

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Newsletter subscription available at: http://help4teachers.com/newsletter.htm
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SECTION ONE: Teaching Tips -
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Teachers' Favorite Back-to-School Tips:

1. Pringles potato chip canisters are perfect to store rulers in.
2. Tennis Balls silence student chairs and desk legs. (slice an X into the
ball and slide onto chair legs)
3. Attach velcro strips to your walls in a couple of places and another
strip to the bottom of your Kleenex boxes. Kleenex stay up, convenient
and in one spot.
4. Attach current events, unit summaries or other educational information to
your "hall pass". Change it often. Use this "captive audience" opportunity to teach.
5. Most highlighters do not show in a photocopy so write "Original" on
your master copy with a highlighter and you never inadvertently hand it out.

Send your favorite teaching tip to: kathie@brains.org

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SECTION TWO: Hot Topics
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If you are teaching, working or involved with high school populations,
particularly at-risk and high free-lunch populations, it's time to look
at the new wave of research coming out on the STAR project.

If you are not familiar with the name, the STAR project was started by
the state of Tennessee in 1985 and involved their entire state school
population. They randomly divided all incoming kindergarten students
into 3 groups: Group A would belong to small class groupings (13 - 17
students), Group B would belong to regular full size classes (22-26 students),
Group C would belong to regular full size classes which included
a second adult (teacher aide). The program ran through 3rd grade.
All students went to regular full sized classes in the 4th grade. The
study involved nearly 12, 000 children and the study continues to track
the students who were involved. The results have been published and analyzed
periodically since the preliminary data was collected in the early 1990's.

Early results of course showed us that children attending small classes
had a significant advantage in state assessment scores. The advantage
was particularly impressive with free-lunch and minority populations.
Another wave of results came out in the late 1990's showing us that small class
size in the early years had enduring effects as the children who came from
Group A (small K-3 classes) continued to have higher achievement scores
in middle school and high school and were much more likely to take
college admissions tests.

The latest research, out this year, now also shows us that apparently those
children who came from the small K-3 classes also were the ones most
likely to graduate high school and aspire to attend some type of post-
secondary school. The effects though were only seen for those students
who attended AT LEAST 3 years of elementary school in small classes.
(This means that having only small kindergarten and first grade classrooms
has no enduring effects on increasing achievement, graduation rates or
postsecondary attempts.) Those who attended all 4 of their first 4 years
had a huge advantage. In fact, having had this experience ended up being
an even greater factor in high school graduation than the child's academic
achievement. To summarize the research, "Attending small classes for 3 or
4 years in the early grades had a positive effect on high school graduation
above and beyond the effect on early academic performance." (pg. 219)

This is very significant research for those of us in secondary education.
The effect of small (less than 17 students) classes in elementary school
is a major factor in how our students do in high school. Apparently it is
one of the biggest factors. Significant enough that perhaps we need to be
going to our school boards and community with this data.

Finn, J., Gerber, S., & Boyd-Zaharias, J. (2005). Journal of Educational
Psychology, Vol 97(2), 214-223

More Hot Topics at the websites!

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SECTION THREE: What's new at the Websites
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**** New Layered Curriculum Units
New units needed - especially in math, foreign language and fine arts.
We welcome all Layered Curriculum units. Please include your name,
school and city/ state so we can give you proper credit. Email them to
kathie@brains.org

**** BRAINS.org Shop
Our bookstore is always open. Stocked with suggested readings,
recommended reading and Layered Curriculum support materials.
Our bookstore helps support this newsletter. http://brains.org/store/

**** Layered Curriculum books and training materials
Layered Curriculum texts and workbooks are always available at a
discount when ordered direct from us.
Yes, we accept Purchase Orders from your US Institution.
Yes, we offer reseller discounts.
Yes, we offer bulk purchase discounts for schools.
Yes, we have terms for your college bookstore.
http://help4teachers.com/books.htm

The video training kit has become very popular for regional and district
professional development. We can custom fit the kit for any size group
from 25 to 1000. Details and ordering information is at:
http://help4teachers.com/video.htm

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SECTION FOUR: Kathie's Email
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Dear Kathie,

Would you be able to help me locate purple notebook paper? I am also
looking for a spiral notebook with purple paper. Thank you for your help.
Carol L..

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Carol,
Ampad is about the only company left that manufactures colored notebook
paper. We were in discussion with them last year about spiral bound
supplies for our shop, but they currently have no plans to bind it that way.
You can get purple (lilac) from them but it will come only in a legal pad binding.

If you cannot find it locally let me know and we can get the legal pads for you
through our shop. We are still looking for spirals, but as yet, have found no
supplier here in the US. - Kathie
====================================================

Kathie, I'm looking forward to starting out my year this year with Layered Curriculum
with my 8th graders. I tried it at the end of last year but I had some problems
and I'm trying to fix those before this year. I had a group of students who really
wasted their classtime. They spent the classtime horsing around and disrupting
our work environment, but then then they'd go home and do the work or bring it
all in on the last day. I'm glad they're doing homework, but I don't know how to
keep them from disrupting other students during classtime. Ideas?
Laura B, Naperville, IL

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Hi Laura,
Your situation is not uncommon. First, it is always easier to begin Layered
Curriculum right at the start of the year, but even if you start later in the year
you can ease the "I'm doing my work at home so I can play in class" event.
In the beginning, you need to require something to be turned in at the end
of each class period. Anytime you have off-task behavior problems that's a
signal that your students need more structure and tighter deadlines. If it's a
big assignment, require a certain amount due in 20 minutes and a certain
amount due before they leave and a certain amount to be completed at home.
Keep deadlines so tight that students feel a bit of pressure to get to work.
They should have the feeling that there is very little time to waste. As the
year progresses, you can lighten up on the structure, but don't be afraid to go
back and increase it from time to time if you feel it is needed. Let me know
how things go. - Kathie

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SECTION FIVE: Workshops/calendar schedule/misc
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I think I hear some school bells ringing! Teachers are starting to head back
to school and in a few places the students are heading back too. By month's
end most of us will be back into full action! It's always an exciting time and
I think one of the best things about teaching - we get a completely new
start every year. What an opportunity. Best of luck to everyone for an
excellent year.

August means lots of travel for me as I get the opportunity to work with a
great number of you starting off the new school year. And this year I will
literally be bouncing back and forth across the country as the month
progresses. So I'll start off next week in Ellicottville, New York for a 3 day
teacher camp with teachers from the souther tier then it's out to North Dakota
to work with teachers at the Dakota Training Institute at the Sisseton Wahpeton
College and to Clear Lake, South Dakota. After that I'll be attending the annual
APA (American Psychological Association) national conference in Washington,
DC then back out west to Pierre, South Dakota. From there I bounce back east
and will be returning to Kinzers PA and Pequea Valley High School before heading
home to New Hampshire.

If you need a Layered Curriculum workshop at your location this school year please
let me know. I have one opening still for April and a couple slots left for May and
June. Also remember Layered Curriculum training is available in a video package
and through licensed trainers around North American who have extensive experience
working with the model. Let me know if you need help or information on any training.

As usual, my very best to you and yours and we journey into another fabulous
school year.

Kathie
=================================================

> Dr. Kathie F. Nunley
> http://help4teachers.com
> http://brains.org
> Layered Curriculum (tm) - because every student deserves a special education (tm)
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Workshop information is available at the website
> http://help4teachers.com/workshops.htm
> or
> call: 603-249-9521
> email: kathie@brains.org
> Brains.org and Help4Teachers is located at:
> 54 Ponemah Road
> Amherst, NH 03031
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- posted by Kathie @ 8:45 PM